Good vs. Well

Good is an adjective while well is an adverb answering the question how. Sometimes well also functions as an adjective pertaining to health.Examples:You did a good job.Good describes job, which is a noun, so good is an adjective.

You did the job well.Well is an adverb describing how the job was performed.

I feel well.Well is an adjective describing I.
Rule: With the four senses—look, smell, taste, feel—discern if these words are being used actively to decide whether to follow them with good or well. (Hear is always used actively.)Examples:You smell good today.Good describes you, not how you sniff with your nose.

You smell well for someone with a cold.
You are sniffing actively with your nose here so use the adverb.

She looks good for a 75-year-old grandmother.
She is not looking actively with eyes so use the adjective.

Rule: When referring to health, always use well.Examples:I do not feel well today. You do not look well.

Rule: When describing someone’s emotional state, use good.Example:He doesn’t feel good about having cheated.

So, how should you answer the question, “How are you?” If you think someone is asking about your physical well-being, answer, “I feel well,” or “I don’t feel well.” If someone is asking about your emotional state, answer, “I feel good,” or “I don’t feel good.”

Pop Quiz
1. She jogged very good/well for her age.
2. She had a good/well time yesterday.
3. With a high fever, it is unlikely he will feel good/well enough to play basketball tomorrow.
4. Those glasses look good/well on you.

Pop Quiz Answers

1. She jogged very well for her age.
2. She had a good time yesterday.
3. With a high fever, it is unlikely he will feel well enough to play basketball tomorrow.
4. Those glasses look good on you.

Posted on Friday, April 6, 2007, at 11:07 pm

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160 responses to “Good vs. Well”

Thank you, thank you, and thank you again, Jane Straus.
Your web page seems to be something I’ve been looking for for so many years! It’s EXCELLENT!
And now, speaking of the differences between the adjective ‘good’ and the adverb ‘well’. It wasn’t until a moment ago that I found out that you can use an adverb with the verbs of senses, like ‘smell’ or ‘look’. You presented the usage in a brilliant way! But, as I wrote earlier, I didn’t know that.
Looking forward for any comment on my comment.

This is, of course, separate from the topic of making the correct grammatical choice of good vs. well. The use of well that you are speaking of is really more of a stall tactic than slang. It occurs when the person needs more time to think about an answer.

Just the way as you did mine, Jane. From yesterday on, I’m going to be HERE every and each day of my presence on the Net! I’ve got so much helpful information to read in your brilliant Blue Book, and right here, in your extremely interesting Grammar Blog!
Thank you.

The question, “How are you?” is a rather ambiguous question. It can either be referring to physical health, or emotional well-being. As you stated in your article Jane, if the question is referring to physical health, “well” would be the appropriate response. If the question is to emotional state, “good” is the appropriate response. If someone asks me, “How are you today?” I am likely to interpret that as a question as to my emotional, or mental state. Therefore I would reply, “good.” Seems to me, it depends a lot on how the hearer interprets the question.

If you are describing how a person chose or that you approve of a choice a person made, write “You chose well.” “You chose good” could be correct in certain instances, such as if the person chose between the words good and evil or between actions or behaviors that could be judged to be good or less than good.

No, it isn’t, it may be an adverb in American circles but if you are using English internationally then stay clear of it. Works great can suggest a lack of education, given it is actually an adjective….

Thank you for pointing out that the use of “great” as an adverb is considered “informal” in international circles. However, numerous dictionaries published in the US acknowledge that “great” can be used as an adverb. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation and GrammarBook.com are guides for proper use of American English.

I learned something from your excellent post. One thing that you do not address is the answer, “I am doing good.” to the question, “How are you?” This is incorrect unless they are telling you that they are doing something that is beneficial. The correct statement, when using doing, would be to say, “I am doing well.” The mistake would be similar to someone saying, “I do not smell very good.” when they mean that their sense of smell is not functioning as it should.

Isn’t “fine” being used as an adjective here? And if so, what is wrong with using “good.?” Besides, when you look up in Merriam_Webster, they cite the notion that you can’t use good to refer to health as antiquated.

good vs. well
An old notion that it is wrong to say “I feel good” in reference to health still occasionally appears in print. The origins of this notion are obscure, but they seem to combine someone’s idea that good should be reserved to describe virtue and uncertainty about whether an adverb or an adjective should follow feel. Today nearly everyone agrees that both good and well can be predicate adjectives after feel. Both are used to express good health, but good may connote good spirits in addition to good health.

Yes, fine is an adjective. In the example sentence above from Leon that you commented on, we prefer “I am doing well” when referring to one’s general well-being. “I am doing good” could imply you are doing something beneficial.

If you said, “The cookies came out good,” that would indicate that they came out tasting good. To remove any doubt, you could say, “The cookies came out tasting good.” If you said, “The cookies came out well,” that would indicate that the cookies were baked well.

Yes, the interpretation issue makes sense; I guess what I was more unsure of was how “fine” was functioning differently from “good” in this case. Is “fine” functioning as an adverb, or is “am doing” functioning in a linking capacity, with “fine” modifying “I” in its usual role as an adjective?

Would you please settle a couple of friendly office disagreements for me?

(1) You say that how to answer “How are you?” depends on whether you think the person is asking about physical or emotional well-being. Aren’t we usually asking both when we ask that question? Asking that question, I would expect to hear answers like “My mother just died” or “I just won the lottery” as well as “I have a cold” or “I just ran a marathon.” What about these instances where it appears the person wonders about both?

(2) Would you agree “I feel good about my test yesterday” is always right and “I feel well about my test yesterday” is always wrong?

In most common everyday interactions, “How are you?” is just a polite greeting where a detailed answer about physical health or one’s emotional state is not usually called for. The best, most grammatically correct way to answer to cover both the physical and emotional realms is not to use good or well at all but rather to say something like “I’m fine, how are you?”

If you asked coworkers “How are you?” they could answer with one of the specific responses you mentioned, but in a full and grammatically correct way using good or well by saying:

“I feel very good; I just won the lottery!”

“Not so good; my mother just died.”

“I’m not feeling well; I have a cold.”

(In the case of the marathon, how the person feels may encompass both the physical and emotional realms and is more likely to be answered with more specific words like tired, spent, exhausted, elated, proud, etc. than with good or well.)

I came across this site for the clarification of the following heard on the tv show ‘bachelor’ by Chris the host. His question, ‘it sounds like it’s going great’.
My take is, for example, that wonderful and great are similar in that they are adjectives. It is clear that ‘it sounds like it’s going wonderful’ is missing the ‘ly’. Should not it be ‘… It’s going greatly’? Or choose a different word if that sounds off, while accurate.
So what is correct? It’s going greatly – I haven’t heard that in forever perhaps given our declining language use. Lol, let’s hear it folks…

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary says that the word great can either be an adjective or an adverb. The entry for great as an adverb reads, “in a great manner : successfully, well .” In a formal context, you might reword to “It is going wonderfully” or “It is going very well.” We’re not surprised you have not heard It’s going greatly “in forever.” We don’t know whether it has ever been acceptable to use greatly in that way.

A term that has recently come into use in South Africa is “They sent well wishes…” Instead of “They sent good wishes…” The former is wrong, but I would like to know the grammatical explanation. Regards, Rob.

I’d have to say you’re wrong when talking about your health. To be is a linking verb and describes the quality of the person.
I am good is correct.
I am well means that your quality of being able to exist is good.
An orange tastes good not well.

The two sentences I am good and I am well have different meanings. I am good means “I am virtuous, righteous, pious.” I am well means “I am in good health.”

The sentence An orange tastes good is consistent with our rule “With the four senses–look, smell, taste, feel–discern if these words are being used actively to decide whether to follow them with good or well.” Only if an orange could do the tasting could it taste well.

What is the grammatically correct answer to the question how are you?
1.I am fine 2. I am good 3.I am doing fine. 4. I am doing good.
also, please give reason(I read somewhere that the answer of ‘how’ should be an adverb.Is it correct?)

Good is an adjective while well is an adverb answering the question how. The word well can be an adjective, too. When referring to health, we often use well rather than good. If you think the question is just a polite greeting, there are many possible answers, including, “I feel well,” “I am doing well,” and “I am well.” (Saying “I am good” could imply that you are saying, “I am virtuous.”)

In the sentence “I am fine,” the word fine describes the pronoun I. Therefore, it is an adjective. In the sentence “I am doing fine,” the word fine describes the verb doing. Therefore, it is an adverb.

We would like to add a bit more information for you:
“I am well” is the standard answer to “How are you?”
“I am doing well” is another way of saying, “I am well.”
“I am good” generally means “I am a good person.”
“I am doing good” means “I am accomplishing things for the welfare of the world.”

Here’s one that’s trouble me: Speaking about movement in the show ring, I often hear, “That is a good-moving dog.” But should it be “well-moving”? I recently came across a similar construction: “a well-functioning training manual.” Can you help?

I love it, you catch my mind. I’m so bright what you have written on your blog here. I’m Indonesian, so i wanna say “Terima kasih banyak” that means “thanks a lot”, your sharing is so helpful for me. See you then.

At the beginning of this definition you’ve said, “‘Good’ describes ‘job’, so ‘good’ is an adjective.” To make a more easily comparable example of the difference between the use of the words ‘good’ and ‘well’, I would suggest stating, “‘Well’ describes ‘did’, which is a verb, so ‘well’ is an adverb.”

In your first sentence the adverb is really. The adverb in the second sentence is soon. They are both positive adverbs because they express a quality without reference to any other thing. Both sentences need periods at the end to be grammatically correct.

The phrase “does my heart good” is an idiom meaning “make someone feel good emotionally.” The word “well” is never used in this phrase. An idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own.

In the sentence “I don’t feel well,” the word well is an adjective describing the word I. One of the dictionary definitions of the word well is an adjective meaning “in good health,” especially in reference to people when free of illness or injury.

I feel well. Here well answers the question “How do you feel” and yet in the explanations it mentions that well is an adjective. Is well not an adverb adding to the verb well? how can we conclude that it is an adjective.

In the sentence “I feel well,” the word well is an adjective describing the word I. One of the dictionary definitions of the word well is an adjective meaning “in good health,” especially in reference to people when free of illness or injury.

In Bermuda they use the well rather than good to describe taste or smell. For example “that tastes well” or “that perfume smells well”. Funnily enough I remember some old Irish nuns from my childhood (in New Zealand) also used well in this context. Is this perhaps an old dialect usage that has persisted in isolated spots like Bermuda? I have been unable to find information on this.

“Do you hear me?” and “Can you hear me?” are both grammatically correct. You could also say, “Do you hear me well?” or “Can you hear me well?” under certain circumstances, such as testing the clarity of the sound of a device.

The adverb “very” does not affect whether to use “good” or “well.” The following sentences are similar to the examples in our blog:You did a very good job.
You did the job very well.
I do not feel very well.

I have a doubt in last question
4. Those glasses look good on you.
I think it should be ‘well’ instead of ‘good’ because here we are describing how glasses is looking on u not about the glasses . please make it clear to me …

I am curious about the hearing sense. You said that hearing is always used actively. So let’s say I bring my dog to the vet and the Doctor says “he sounds well.” In this instance (assuming the verb sound is connected to the hearing sense) wouldn’t that mean he sounds healthy? In which case the verb is not being used actively and the Vet is describing his state of health. However in another scenario let’s say that my dog sounds out words because he’s a talking dog (hypothetically lol). In this situation I could say “he sounds well” describing the action of performing a sound in which case, “sound” is being used actively. In any event I just want to know if the hearing sense can also be used interchangeably depending on the situation.

The message is grammatically correct, however, in formal writing we recommend avoiding the use of contractions. Therefore, writing “I have done” would be better. The phrase could also be written “If you think I have done a good job for you…”

Thank you for clearing up the good v. well as it concerns health. A friend from grade school (it’s been 50 years, OMG!) insisted “I feel good” would be the correct response. She cited the lesson about senses. Since my memory is no longer reliable, I could not defend my position. So, as it turns out, we could both be right, depending on the intent of the question. I will definitely be citing your lesson here during our next conversation! KF

I cannot get this clear in my head. I struggle every time it comes up and I think you may be the person to help. I am a medical and legal transcriptionist. The doctor is stating the patient’s/client’s answers to his/her questions, but they are not actual quoted replies. How should the following sentences (a reply to and the question asked) be worded?

He gets along good with his family and friends
He thinks he gets along good with others.
He thinks his friendships/relationships are good.

I know good should not be placed at the end of a sentence, so it brings me back to rewording the sentence (of which I have the liberty), and questioning if I should use well or good.

There is no rule that prohibits good at the end of a sentence.
He gets along well with his family and friends.
He thinks he gets along well with others.
He thinks his friendships/relationships are good.

Is it possible to say : to do somebody (a world of) good?
Are the following sentences correct and the same as the one above:
to mean well to somebody / to mean good for somebody
to want somebody’s own good or to wish somebody good?

The idiom do somebody a world of good means “do something to help someone or make someone feel better.” It is correct to say that something or someone did or will do someone a world of good.To mean well means “to have good intentions but not always the ability to carry them out.” It is not common to follow the phrase with the word somebody. Most likely you would just say “He means well” or “He meant well.”
The phrase for someone’s own good means “done for the benefit of oneself.” It is not common to say that you “want somebody’s own good.”
It is grammatically correct to say you wish someone well.
Examples:A vacation will do her a world of good.
He meant well, but his directions caused us to get lost.
We know you don’t want to take this medication, but it is for your own good.
I wish you well.

I’m having some trouble correctly identifying linking verbs. For example, in the sentence “She writes well.”, why isn’t ‘writes’ working as a linking verb? Isn’t it linking the subject ‘She’ with the quality of good writing? According to this reasoning, the grammatically correct way of stating it should be “She writes good.”.

I know that argument is not correct, but I can’t see the flaw. Thank you very much in advance. Happy New Year!

This is a really GOOD discussion about the uses of “well” vs. “good”! Thank you very much! While I knew that the verb ‘to be’ and the linking verbs should be followed by adjectives instead of adverbs (when the intention is to describe the subject), now I finally understand why “I am well” is correct. I did not know that “well” is an adjective as well as an adverb. Thanks for clearing that up. It would be great to see this subject and all these tips collected together in a new blog post/newsletter article. There seems to be endless need for review of this difficult grammatical subject. What a great way to start off the new year: to be well AND be good!

I now am clear about the correct use of good and well. But I’m confused about the below sentences.
Opt 1: John and Maria have completed the graduation.
Opt 2: John and Maria has completed the graduation.

Thank you for this article and all the comments.
I came looking for the different between good and well to the answer to the question “how are you?” Some people always answer “good” and some always answer “well.”

Person 1: “How are you?”
Person 2: “Well, and you?”
Person 1: “Good”

I was wondering if this might be a regional preference. I think that most don’t think in terms of whether it is physical or emotional, but that made a lot of sense. I think it is more habit. But, I am glad to know that there is a distinction.

Nice web page you got here… Could u please help with the correct answer to this question and how you arrived at it.
Q: Her insulting habit of correcting everyone she meets, accompanied by her loud voice, her inability to listen to anyone, and her nervous giggles, prevents her from doing WELL/GOOD as an administrator.

Also when the word “everyone” is used, should it be accompanied with a singular pronoun such as “his/her” or with the plural pronoun “their”. eg : “everyone is responsible for HIS/THEIR unique vision of the world.
Thanks

Although writing “It stormed really well yesterday” could be considered grammatically correct, the adverb well feels awkward when used with the verb stormed. You might consider using a different adverb, for example:
It stormed fiercely yesterday.
It stormed all day yesterday.
It stormed intensely yesterday.

Although writing “how well to approach their managers” could be considered grammatically correct, the sentence is awkward. We recommend writing something to the effect ofStaff will be advised how best to approach their managers.

We can understand how this use of well as an adjective can sound a little odd, especially to an American ear. We expanded on this acceptable use (“fitting or gratifying”) in our September 20, 2017, article How Are You—Good, Well, or Fine?

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